Hank

Me, too. Hartzell 3-blade, 201 windshield.

This is how my PTT is installed. No 3D printer needed, just a scrap of metal and a couple of screws. The right yoke is even easier, as there's no clock in the way, but I can't find a photo right now.

While I agree with your points about going around, I've not found this part to be true. I originally thought it must be a long body thing, but your K is a mid-body. I routinely pull throttle to idle in my C well before the numbers; a Piper pilot once commented after we landed that if he'd pulled his throttle to idle when I did, he would have been in the trees, but in my little C, "nothing happened!" This is a recent landing at home after a 3+ hours XC, so it's a little bumpy. Please ignore the dog whimpering in the back seat. Every change in throttle is clearly visible, even though loaded heavy I kept more in longer than on a solo flight. https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/1056960197

I've followed a jet around the pattern at Auburn, KAUO. We were both talking the whole way around. He was faster, and flew downwind and base in a bank, leveling off on final. He then pulled clear and watched my landing. Strangely we were alone in the pattern; that must have been before they signed the contract with Delta and tripled the number of planes, leading shortly to adding a yet-to-be-built tower.

Isn't that why most of us here would fit in nicely? BSME, MSE, but didn't pile anything high or deep enough for the next level.

Sounds like Monroe, GA, where I went to high school. The cotton mills.are long closed, shipped to places like Sri Lanka and Vietnam, but the buildings are all turns into multiple businesses. Atlanta hasn't yet grown out to it, and Athens / University of Georgia isn't too far, and due to scholarship money from the lottery, UGA has risen to be quite competitive. There's even an airport with hangars on both sides of the runway, and a decades-long active glider group or two.

My dad drive south in late January, and stopped when he had to turn on the AC. That was in Frostproof, FL, not much around but many lakes for fishing, and more citrus groves than I'd want to count.

My response above ignores any reason why the OP wants to move. I simply pointed out how the area meets his desired quality of life, low cost of living, urban access and airports (both commercial and general aviation). That's as non-political of a post as can be made regarding where a pilot may want to live that has not already occurred in their own private thoughts. I've moved a bunch, now in Town #22, but only my third town since I began flying anything other than a seat way back in the giant aluminum tube. Why an individual wants to move is that individual's own concern. He asked for advice about the areas we live / lived in, and how they may suit his flying and non-flying activities. If the reason for moving is disclosed, and you're offended, ignore the rest of the thread and move on. Or answer the non-offending questions, whatever floats your boat. But there's no reason to bash anyone just because you disagree with an expressed opinion. Or should we tear up the entire 1st Amendment, not just the "free speech" part, so that no one is offended by hearing something on the news or by someone else's religion? I have yet to see any records in our founding documents that even insinuate that any person has the right to not be offended. (See free speech above.) That's a good thing, too, because that thought offends me! Back to the discussion of good places for pilots to live!

Try here in central Alabama. Lake Martin (44,000 acres = 17,800 hectares) is nice on those warm days. A couple or three public and several private airports are around. Property and income taxes are low, and in my small neighborhood (39 lots but only 16 houses), we have one Canadian and a couple from upstate New York. We aren't as backward as some people think. The state capital is less than an hour's drive, Atlanta is two, and a major university is ~40 minutes (with an aviation program sponsored by Delta). NetJets flies all over, and other fractional ownership abound, all using professional pilots. Lastly, what are "snow," "ice" and "cold"? I use ice to keep my tea cold, and sometimes to cool down my bourbon and beer . . . Haven't seen a combined half inch of snow since 2018. We had 3" then, and my company shut down for three days.

@A64Pilot, it seems the @jetdriven is correct. The car comparison falls apart because there you are looking at distance per unit fuel, and with our planes the fuel flow is constantly and we are looking at how far we can go. It is often possible with.an airpla e to burn more fuel and reach the destination both sooner and on less fuel. My little C, for example, cruises right at or barely below, 9 gph; but I travel "with" friends in 172s with cruise fuel burns of 7.5 gph. But I reach the destination in abiut a third less time and on 10-15% less fuel, even though I burn almost 30% more fuel per hour. Example: Me = 9 x 2.5 hours = 22.5 gallons Them = 7.5 x 3.2 hours = 24 gallons Except the trips we've taken are more dramatic than this fictional creation.

Nah. My job went to Mexico last year. Shut down our plant and sent ~2/3 of it down there, scrapped out everything else, sold the building. Because the company has 130,000 employees, they were too full to find anywhere that even a single one of our 150 people could work . . . No confused AI required, unless it was in the Corporate Office figuring out that closing the only plant in our group of six that actually met it's financial goals the year the closing was announced (announced 11/02/22; effective 5/31/23).

That wasn't me, but I've read it here recently. I check gear down three times: Abeam intended point of landing, drop gear and check green light. On base, check green light. Turn final, confirm slope and speed, point at floor indicator. Simple, descend to pattern altitude, reduce power and wait. Takes a mile or two. What power setting do you use for instrument approaches? For me, it's 16-17" / 2300 clean; coming in VFR, I may pull back to 15" to get under 125 mph, but it will never happen in a descent. Once Takeoff Flaps are down, I'm usually around 100 mph and increase throttle an inch or two to stabilize at 90 mph. Gear goes down to start descent for landing, with another power reduction. In my little C model, speed brakes don't exist, and 20" will keep me way too fast to move anything beside the yoke and rudder pedals.

It's an Excel spreadsheet. Just download Excel. I have it on my laptop, tablet and phone; then again, I'm an engineer and give by Excel!

It shows on my phone.

Welcome back to the fold, @wood_fly! Enjoy your new ride, find a good CFI and fly safe!

I bought my Mooney and started flying it with 62 whole hours in my logbook. "Junior pilot" would have been a complement! Now, eighteen years later, i know my Mooney well--what I should do, how far to move engine & flight controls, how the airplane should respond, where I should and should not try to fly. But to an airline pilot, my logbook still looks pretty junior. On the other hand, I've paid for every single hour in it, and have sat squarely in the left seat after doing all of the flight planning, fueling and loading--when's the last time most airline pilots created and filed a flight plan, checked the weather (NOT read a briefing prepared by someone else), etc.?

If the pattern is busy, or I'm coming in at a shallow angle (recently headed 253 for runway 36), I'll just point the nose a bit to the north 10-15 miles out, and cross the extended centerline a couple or three miles away; it's not much of a change, and puts me well below departing traffic. Then I turn downwind. Calling out "entering pattern on left crosswind" is an option, depending on what all is going on down there.

My method of preventing gear ups is simple and repeatable: Abeam the intended point of landing, drop gear and reduce throttle to initiate descent. Feel the "thump" and watch the green light come on. On base leg, confirm green light. Turn final, check airspeed, altitude and VASI / PAPI lights, adjusting speed and descent as needed. Look and point at the floor indicator (lit at night for visibility). IFR is somewhat different: A dot-and-a-half before glideslope intercept, or at the IAF, drop gear and set power for descent. At breakout, check green light. On short final, no later than crossing the fence, look and point at the floor indicator (lit at night for visibility). Pointing at the floor indicator and saying "gear down" has saved me twice, averaging almost once per decade. So it's an infrequent occurrence, but it would likely end my flying days, so I'm all about prevention! Note that both instances of "almost" happened away from home--one short flight (no tower) and one 3-hour XC (towered) away. And yes, from time to time I do touch n goes, sometimes alone and sometimes with a CFII (during training, and now IPCs and Flight Reviews).

Anthony has been here forever, and is acknowledged as the Dean of Mooneyspace. I joined in 2008, he was already here.

Anthony has been here forever, and is generally acknowledged as the Dean of Mooneyspace. I joined in 2008, @carusoam was already here . . . .

What year is your E? The back seat in my C folds down, or the back can come out pretty easily, or the seat bottom comes out easily too. The bottom goes in easy, just two straps and latches, but putting the rear seatback in after removing it is best done on a cool morning with bandages, dictionary and cold adult beverages nearby . . . Yes, these are from the factory, not later modifications or retrofit. But the aren't J-style, the seat bottom sits on the spar with individual reclining abilities, rather than being individually stuck on a platform.

Mine actually broke off a few years ago (2015? 2016?). My IA couldn't find one, but was able to welding the end back on and file it to fit. It's been working ever since, and very well with a new cable, but it's not pretty to look at. Good luck! Let us know what you do and how it works.

If you're feeling rusty, get a CFI. It's too late now, but it may have helped to have flown with an instructor periodically during the overhaul, to stay flight current, passenger current and instrument current. I had a small medical issue a year or so ago, couldn't fly from early August until early December, then again late December through March last year. I made sure to fly with an instructor, in their plane, to make sure I could manage the controls. Then when I felt up to it in my Mooney, I extended my IPC beyond making the CFII happy, until I felt comfortable and proficient again. Fly like your life depends on it, because it does.

We had jumpers at the field where I got my PPL and based the Mooney for 7 years. If jumpers were about to go, I'd either do a touch and go at the nearby Delta (4 whole nm away), or make a couple of 2-minute 360s somewhere, then land. No jumpers, coming from the north, I'd call then cross the departure end of 26 for left downwind (only 3000' long, midfield left me no time for anything!). Ya'll fly safe out there!